Abstract:

The main purpose of this study is to explore preservice science teachers' mental models of science teaching. Additionally it is investigated whether there is a significant correlation between their gender and grade levels in terms of mental models. The sample of this study composed of 300 (111 males and 189 females) pre-service science teachers from Turkey. As a data collection instrument "Draw a Science Teacher Test-Checklist (DASTT-C)" was used. The test was made up two sections. In the first section of the DASTT-C, the pre-service science teachers were asked to "Draw a picture of yourself as a science teacher". In the second section, they were asked to give answers to the questions "What is the science teacher doing? and what are the students doing?" regarding their drawings. The data was the coded according to the rubric and analyzed with SPSS. The results of study showed that pre-service science teachers' mental models of science teaching were in the categories of conceptual teaching (61%), exploratory or inquiry/constructivist teaching (22%), and explicit/didactic teaching (17%). There was no significant difference between male and female but there was significant difference between the grade levels in favour of senior levels with regard to their mental models of science teaching. In the light of the results, some suggestions were made for further studies.

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